{"id":13885,"date":"2019-01-14T11:54:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T16:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=13885"},"modified":"2019-01-14T13:38:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T18:38:15","slug":"13885","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2019\/01\/13885.html","title":{"rendered":"DC Releases Comic Book About Christ, But Jesus is Not the Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wikimedia<\/a>
Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christians simply cannot catch a break. Television shows and movies have repeatedly and unrepentantly derided Christian beliefs. Now, DC comics are cheerfully piling on with their new comic series \u201cSecond Coming.\u201d Any Christian would be wary of seeing Jesus portrayed in comic books, especially where the Savior is not the hero of the story. According to the plot summary released by DC, \u201cSecond Coming\u201d will follow \u201cthe return of Jesus Christ, as He is sent on a most holy mission by God to learn what it takes to be the true messiah of mankind by becoming roommates with the world\u2019s favorite savior: the all-powerful superhero Sun-Man, the Last Son of Krispex! But when Christ returns to Earth, He\u2019s shocked to discover what has become of His gospel\u2014and now, He aims to set the record straight.”<\/p>\n

Christians, understandably, have declared the comic book to be \u201cblasphemous [rather] than biblical.\u201d Mark Russell, the writer of the comic, however, has declared that the comic is a commentary on how Christians misunderstand the Bible and Jesus\u2019 message today.<\/p>\n

“The Christian religion doesn\u2019t really base itself on what He taught, particularly in the modern Evangelical megachurches,” Russell said. “They have Him more as a mascot on t-shirts to prove they\u2019re on the winning team. [Second Coming] is about Jesus coming down and being appalled by what He sees has been done in His name by Christianity in the last 2,000 years.”<\/p>\n

While a fictional and biblically inspired story about Christ clarifying the Gospel would be interesting, some of the images of the comic that have been released worry Christians. The cover of the comic shows Christ looking very interested in how Sun-Man has a bruised and bloodied man in a painful headlock, and other released images show Christ sprawled on a giant pillow while God drinks wine. Russell\u2019s comments have not set Christian\u2019s at ease either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept is that God was so upset with Jesus\u2019 performance the first time He came to Earth since He was arrested so soon and crucified shortly after, that He has kept Him locked-up since then,” Russell said. “God then sees this superhero on Earth a few thousand years later and says, ‘That\u2019s what I wanted for You!’\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian reactions have been somewhat split. While few to none approve of the comic, some are not overly concerned. \u201cAs a Christian this does offend me,\u201d one person commented on a webpage announcing the comic, \u201c[and] I won\u2019t purchase or read this comic series\u2026[but[I do not want to\u2026use mob tactics to shut down this product or authors or insist that a ban be put into place.\u201d Another commenter on the same website agreed that \u201cturning the other cheek\u201d was the best way to go about handling the comic. Others, however, have commented on what they see as a double standard when it comes to treating religious figures with respect. \u201cWhen are they releasing the Mohammed version,\u201d one person questioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond Coming\u201d will be released in early March 2019. How it will be received at that point is still unknown, but there is no doubt that regardless of whether it is a massive success or a total flop, the comic will be a subject of intense controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christians simply cannot catch a break. Television shows and movies have repeatedly and unrepentantly derided Christian beliefs. Now, DC comics are cheerfully piling on with their new comic series \u201cSecond Coming.\u201d Any Christian would be wary of seeing Jesus portrayed in comic books, especially where the Savior is not the hero of the story. According…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[3660,3868,3869,3870,3867],"class_list":["post-13885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-pop-culture","tag-anti-christian","tag-comic-books","tag-comics","tag-dc-comics","tag-mocking-christianity"],"yoast_head":"\nDC Releases Comic Book About Christ, But Jesus is Not the Hero<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DC comics is releasing a comic called \u201cSecond Coming\u201d that has Jesus learning how to be what God wanted for Earth from DC superhero Sun-Man.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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